Danal's dream
Danal has been gone for months, one night Enkindel dreams of him. You are in a forest and you are running. The trees are familliar and yet at the same time, strange and foreign, they are not the trees near Zepath, but why would they be, you are not near Zepath? Huff! Puff! Pant! Huff! Puff! You keep running, branches snapping beneath your feet and others breaking as you run. Who are you? Where are you? You do not know the answers to these questions but the fact does not seem strange in the slightest. Huff! Puff! Huff! Puff! You keep running, you have to get away. From who? What? Why? You do not know the answers to these questions but the fact does not seem strange in the slightest. You have to keep running. You are lost. North. You need to go north but the trees block your sight and you are too far from the sea to hear it's waves. The stars are strange and unfamiliar and while you run, you know they are to the south, they know you are here and they are chasing you. As you have run, you have become confused and now are uncertain which way is which. You could be running straight at them. And so you run. "KEEP GOING!" you yell. To who? The words are strange and yet oddly familiar at the same time. This does not seem odd to you in the slightest. Huff! Puff! Pant! Huff! Puff! You keep running, branches snapping beneath your feet and others breaking as you run. Who are you? Where are you? You do not know the answers to these questions but the fact does not seem strange in the slightest. Huff! Puff! Huff! Puff! You keep running, you have to get away. From who? What? Why? You do not know the answers to these questions but the fact does not seem strange in the slightest. You have to keep running. You are lost. North. You need to go north but the trees block your sight and you are too far from the sea to hear it's waves. The stars are strange and unfamiliar and while you run, you know they are to the south, they know you are here and they are chasing you. As you have run, you have become confused and now are uncertain which way is which. You could be running straight at them. And so you run. "KEEP GOING!" you yell. To who? The words are strange and yet oddly familiar at the same time. This does not seem odd to you in the slightest. Suddenly you are no longer lost. You want to remember the way and so you do. Mount Har. Somehow you know where it is, it is obvious. Which means you have been running... southwest, towards your pursuers AND the sea, which could be worse!?! You yell to your companion "We've been turned around! This way! Hurry!" You turn and your companion follows you. A man in his 20s, strangely short, a dark skinned savage. He follows and the two of you continue to run for your lives. ??? has been expended. Even as you run for your life, somehow you remain perfectly calm. Odd. You remembered... something and there was a cost. You still have the strength equal to three times what mere muscles might provide. Wait... strength.... why would you....huh... ? Your prize. You know which way to run now to save yourself but your prize.... With it, your father will glorify you and your brother lavish you with praise. You will finally show him you that your... that you are good enough. You... had it? You think? You can't... you cant remember what it was or where it is... somewhere, lost in the forest... you will not leave it behind, it is somewhere north of you. You stored it there for safe keeping. But there are other problems. You are making noise, a LOT of noise as you run. You found that the largest predators would not chase you within sight of the ocean, they would turn back, terrified. Using all of the stealth your brother taught you, you snuck down the coast at the edge between the sea and forest, raising small altars each night and sleeping in trees. Now... now you KNOW the horrors which lurk within those waters, the unspeakable horrors which will consume your flesh, nay your soul, you dare not return to the sea and with all the noise you make, the many monsters in this forest will find you, if they have not already.... you can feel them, you know where they are, if only you can remember... You are not leaving without your Prize... despite the danger, you will search for it. Where is it... you are lost in this forest with danger closing in on all sides. You know where it is if... if you just remember.... Beneath your feet the radiant heat of the sun rises from the forest floor gently into the night time air, carrying up with it, small bits of water, bits too small to be seen by the eye, but which are suspended in the air... The warm air carries the water upwards till it reaches the cool air of the night, above the tree line and then cools itself as the hot and warm air mix. And where they mix, the water vapor condenses into a drop of water upon the leaf and falls towards the forest floor. And as you watch the drop of water plummet, every detail around you, you can see with perfect and complete clarity. You know how many leaves are upon a certain tree, you see a dragonfly and know with certainty the moment it was hatched, you see the leaves upon the forest floor and know that two deer walked by the spot four months, two days and one hour ago... You can see... you can see everything how it is now, know then what caused it and what will come... you can see... you know how... how all of it is connected... everything is connected... You find Danal's prize and you whisper it into his ear, he realizes the information as if he recalled it himself, but you hardly care if he finds it now, his fate hardly matters, the answers to all of your questions are unfurling before your eyes like a cloth which grows forever in each direction, yet each fiber is clear to you... You try to awaken. All around you Threads of Understanding are unraveling. Answers and secrets which surrounded you and were tantalizingly close to you recede. They are distant. They diminish And then they are gone entirely, taking with them any recollection of such mysteries, leaving not even a spectre of a shade. Of the night, you recall that you aided Danal twice... but the details of the else are simply gone. You lay in your bed in the home of King Rimush. Your partner from the last night is gone. Snarls is asleep next to you, his head rested on your pillow and one of his massive paws draped over your chest. Yet sitting on the edge of the bed beside you is a woman of indeterminate years wearing a simple and inexpensive brown robe. She strokes the side of your face gently, you are exhausted and feel a strong that you must sleep. You are tired, very, very tired. She speaks to you. "Child..." "You were selfless to help him Child, but it was not wise. No rescue will come to save you from yourself. Not again. Gentle your fears on the boy's account, know that his compassion and courage this night have found favor in the eyes of our Father." Her voice is soft and melodic, you can feel empathy from her every word and peace radiate from the spaces between them. You feel at ease simply from her presence. There is no judgment, no scolding, only understanding and compassion. You are tired. Very, very tired, he gentle words comfort you back to rest... "Tell the King of Zepath not to weep, for we shall be beside the boy till he returns, yet tell no others. We will speak again, but not before you are ready. Know that your teacher is favored in the eyes of our Father and teaches you only from love. Now sleep Child... and do not destroy." She strokes the side of your face again gently, the edge of her hand is warm and tender. You feel yourself falling asleep. She has not sent you to sleep, you are simply dead tired. You benefit from physical strength equivalent to four times what a man of your build could summon. You have a modest benefit to your overall endurance. You have a small benefit to your reflexes. Any more than a modest expenditure of ??? will drive you from reason... "Thank you" you say. The woman smiles a warm, but sad smile and brushes the side of your face gently, her fingers are warm and her touch filled with love. Sleeping beside you, Snarls snuggles closer to you. You drift off back to sleep. '' Category:Visions